Zsa Zsa Bouvier Couch, a woman from Montgomery, has been found guilty of fraud by a federal jury. This recent development has been reported by WSFA.
On April 8, 2021, she faced charges of bank fraud, lying to a federally insured bank, and money laundering.
According to reports, Couch has confessed to submitting six fraudulent loan applications under the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. These loan applications amount to more than $1.6 million in requests.
As a small business owner, Couch took advantage of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans that were designed to provide forgivable loans to support small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, she was not entirely truthful about her number of employees and payroll, which resulted in her receiving more loans than she was entitled to. This move was not ethical and could have potentially deprived other deserving small businesses of the opportunity to receive the much-needed financial support.
According to reports, Couch was discovered to have been dishonest in various ways, including submitting multiple PPP loan applications for the same business and neglecting to reveal that she owned more than one company.
After successfully acquiring PPP funds, she was able to distribute a total of $609,687.47 to her family members. As part of her family’s financial planning, she used a portion of the funds to purchase cars, which greatly improved their mobility and overall quality of life.
In the next few months, a sentencing hearing will be set for Couch, where he could potentially face a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison.
Get the freshest local news and breaking alerts straight to your inbox by subscribing to the WSFA Newsletter. Stay up-to-date with the latest happenings in your community without having to scour through multiple news sources. Sign up now and never miss out on important updates again.
More News:
- Over 100 Masked Teens Engage in Massive Looting in Philadelphia, Police Making Arrests
- A New Yorker Receives a Huge Fine After Being Caught on Camera
